


Moving Day

by KellyLiz



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-13
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-26 10:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KellyLiz/pseuds/KellyLiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day before the anniversary of Lizzie's rejection of Darcy. How much has changed!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving Day

**Author's Note:**

> Lizzie posted ep. 59 when Darcy first is seen at the door of her office coming to confess his love to her on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. It was during the Halloween party at Collins & Collins so it was most likely filmed on the preceding Friday afternoon, Oct. 26th.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Lizzie laid her face on her desk and sighed. She resisted the urge to bang her head against the hard wood until her head hurt on the outside as much as it did on the inside. It was only 11:00 a.m. and she really wanted to go home. The meeting with Mark Bimer had been frustrating to put it mildly. Sadie was out sick (meaning Lizzie had to fill in her part of the presentation, only adequately prepared) and Mark had shot questions at Lizzie and her employee Kathy with a maddening impatience and brusqueness. It had taken all Lizzie’s tolerance to answer him mildly without sounding defensive and without picking up the pastry in front of him and grinding it in his face. At one point, the urge to run out of the room screaming had seemed the best option (at least better than pastry smashing a prospective client). But she had stuck it out and ended the meeting with a smile still plastered on her face. William would be proud, she thought grimly.

Mark wanted her to put together another set of estimates and yet another presentation. She was pretty sure he was less interested in signing with her company now then he had been at the beginning. He seemed to be milking her for ideas. Her company's resources were already limited for the next few months and she wasn't sure it would be worth her time but she had already put in a good amount of work on his account. (“You can’t use sunk costs in your estimate,” she heard William’s voice in her head. “Only look at the costs and potential revenues in the future when deciding if a project is worth it.”) She mentally conceded this one to William and quickly emailed Mark to let him know her firm was passing before she wasted any more time, or pastries, on his account.

Two more hours and William would be here for a late lunch. At least, there were no more meetings scheduled for today and it was Friday. Lizzie took a long drink of water and two aspirin then indulged herself in a few more blissful thoughts of being at home before she started typing on her keyboard. She saw an email from Caroline and cursed thinking of a few choice adjectives she could apply to Caroline. She wasn’t going to add to her bad mood by reading it now.

Last weekend, they had been invited to a dinner at Catherine’s and found Caroline ensconced there. After dinner, Lizzie had noticed Caroline talking to William in a corner and had headed over to him. As Lizzie approached she overheard Caroline saying, “Aren’t you nervous Lizzie might change her mind again? She really hated you at one point.” 

William’s face stayed impassive, but Lizzie saw his eyes and knew the barb had hit home. She had seriously wanted to deck Caroline but William’s feelings were what mattered and she walked past Caroline to slip her arms around his waist. “That was before I really knew him,” she said to Caroline but looking only at William. “Now I’m crazy about him and cannot imagine life without him. I am not going to change my mind.” She heard Caroline stalk off as William’s face lit up and he wrapped his arms around Lizzie and hugged her tightly. 

Later she had kissed him ferociously and asked, “You know how much I love you, right? You looked stricken for a minute.”

“I know,” he gave her his intense look (dubbed by Gigi as his "Lizzie look"), and added, “She blindsided me. She had been pretty supportive about my relationship with you the last few times we talked and she started this conversation by saying that she was really happy for me. Then she caught me off guard with that comment.”

“Always remember, you won’t be able to get rid of me that easily,” Lizzie cupped his face in her hands.

“As if I’d ever want to,” he smiled. “I did really enjoy you swooping in to defend us.” William flipped her over and kissed her back with a passion that erased Caroline from her mind very effectively.

Lizzie bet that Caroline’s email had some kind of backhanded apology or explanation. Caroline obviously still had mixed feelings about William and Lizzie’s relationship, but Lizzie doubted Caroline wanted to end her association with them. It would be good for Caroline to have to wait for a reply, Lizzie decided.

William came promptly at 1:00 bringing sandwiches and salads for their lunch. Lizzie felt her worries recede as he captured her in a long hug. They sat down and started to eat. Lizzie was ravenous now that her mood had lightened. She told him about her meeting with Mark, gesticulating with her fork between bites of her salad. 

“How did you sleep last night?” William asked her as he finished his sandwich.

“Awful,” she admitted. “I missed you.”

Lizzie knew it was her own fault that she had slept poorly. She had insisted on spending the night at her apartment after she found out Gigi would be in town visiting. Lizzie wanted William to have some alone time with his sister, and she had not slept in her own apartment in a few weeks. She had spent the lonely night cleaning her refrigerator and tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

“Me too,” he said. ”I ended up going into work early when I kept waking up every few hours.”

Lizzie smiled sympathetically. “How is Gigi?”

“Enjoying her time on Sandition. She's looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.” Gigi was planning to see college friends on Friday, then going to a game with Fitz and Brandon on Saturday.

“'I'm glad she's happy.”

“'I got your text,” he said with a special smile. She had asked if they could chat later. ‘Chat’ had become a special euphemism for them. “Do we have to wait until after work?”

“You know my office does not have a big comfortable couch like yours,” she pointed out.

“Maybe that needs to be rectified.” William’s large warm hand enclosed her bare arm.

“You are not buying a couch for my office,” she scolded.

“It would be for me as much as you,” he wheedled. He ran his hand down the side of her face, cupping her jaw before giving her a kiss that promised more later. Lizzie laughed. She was not as inured to his negotiating tactics as she pretended. It was time to change the topic. (When did she start using the word topic instead of subject? She was picking up William mannerisms scarily often.)

“I thought we might watch a new TV show later this weekend,” she said careful to keep her tone neutral. Lizzie smiled inwardly as she thought hard about what reality show she could get William to watch. Now that she'd hooked him on Modern Family (he’d watched a few TV shows with Gigi when she was a teenager, but nothing but the news and PBS for the last few years), getting him to like at least one reality show was his next step into normal society ("Define normal" she could hear him ask in her head). ‘The Voice?’ No, he wasn't familiar enough with popular music to enjoy that. Anything with judges would probably bore him. Anything too formulaic would also make him sigh but they were all formulaic. That's how they produced the shows so cheaply and made money. ‘Income Property’ might work. William had a natural affinity for figuring out how to make investments grow (his private investment portfolio rivaled small companies’ portfolios) and he loved DIY projects although he normally did not have the time to do them himself (just enough time to breathe down the necks of the poor contractors they hired). Lizzie had slipped the last one a bonus after William had grilled him for an hour on just how he was going to put in the new shelves and drawers in his walk-in closet for Lizzie (which William had insisted on having installed as over half of her clothes were already at his condo).

William narrowed his eyes at her. “You make me nervous, Lizzie, when you get that calculating look on your face.”

She laughed but chose not to enlighten him yet. It was her job to lighten him up a little. He educated her in so many ways. On her last visit with Lydia, Lizzie had explained how the bundling of risky mortgages by financial firms had impacted the 2008 recession. (“I get it—he is as nerdy as you,” Lydia had interrupted. “You know I’ll never get that 10 minutes of my life back.”)

“Are you ready to talk about the elephant in the room yet?” Lizzie asked. 

William was gathering the wrappers from their lunch and she idly watched his hands at work. He gave her a knowing smile. “'I see two elephants. Which are you referring to?” he replied with a lift of his eyebrow.

“'Tomorrow is the anniversary of a very painful memory for both of us but especially for you. Is there anything special you want to do?“ Guilt still swirled through her at the thought of that day. 

“'Just being with you all day. And if, at that same time that I admitted that I love you for the first time last year, you want to tell me how you feel now, I would not object.” That little smile he gave just for her lit his face. Lizzie had some activities in mind that she figured would make him forget everything but his name for at least several minutes.

“We are good for each other, aren't we?” She took his hand.

He smiled and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. “In so many ways.”

“What’s the second elephant?” Lizzie dared to ask.

“Are you ready to move in with me?” He met her eyes, but kept his expression bland. Lizzie knew he was trying not to be too pushy.

They had been having this discussion a long time. It was no longer a question of if, but a question of when. (William would vote for yesterday if that was possible). They had even agreed on their sharing of expenses as Lizzie still had a strong need to maintain some independence. If she let him have his way, he would wrap her in soft cotton and feed her Ghirardelli and See's chocolate truffles in bed. (“See's Chocolates also?” She saw him mentally file it away under Lizzie’s likes. “What do _you_ like?” she'd asked. “I'll show you what I like,” he had rasped in her ear, which ended that discussion. He had more money than time and tended to just buy what he wanted. Lizzie had to be creative to spoil him. She watched for his favorite authors to come to town (he’d been thrilled when she had been able to snap up tickets to hear Steven Pinker when he came to Stanford), bought the sexiest lingerie she could afford on her budget and drove across town to get his favorite bran muffins once a week.)

William continued to look at her, outwardly waiting patiently for her reply. Lizzie was not fooled. She could see the tension in his jaw and feel it in his hands holding hers.

Lizzie gave him a tremulous smile. “I had a terrible morning today. During my meeting with Mark Bimer, I just wanted to run out the door and go home. But when I imagined home, I wasn't thinking about my apartment or your condo. I was thinking of being with you.” He was watching her avidly with a gleam in his eyes that told her he wanted to grab her. But he held himself in check, waiting for her to finish. She looked into his blue eyes intently. “My home is wherever you are, William. So the answer to your question is, yes, I am ready to move in with you.”

Even expecting his action, she was startled how quickly he pounced and had lifted her up in his arms. He held her above his head, arms around her hips as he spun her around. Lizzie laughed, looking down at his upturned face. William stopped spinning and let Lizzie’s body slowly slide down his until their lips were at the same level. “Lizzie, my love,” he said as he pulled her on for a long kiss. Lizzie clung to his strong shoulders as she kissed him. They kissed with passion but also with a mutual feeling of their new commitment and bond. Many moments later, they pulled back smiling at each other. “Can we move you in with me tonight?” he asked excitedly.

“What?” Lizzie asked confused. “We have the weekend.”

“I came in early this morning and can leave for the weekend now. We can borrow boxes from Pemberley. You don't have that much that needs to be moved.” William looked boyish when he was this eager.

Lizzie frowned, thinking. Her studio apartment had come furnished so she didn't have any furniture. It was small (“miniscule” according to William) and she had not bought much to decorate it. She only had her books, clothes, some personal items and a mishmash of inexpensive kitchen dinnerware and utensils she planned to give to Lydia. It would probably only take three or four trips in the car. “Why tonight?” she asked.

“I'd like the date we start to live together to have a different anniversary than tomorrow's date. Plus I want to have you to already be living with me when we go through tomorrow.” He was trying to sound unemotional, but she recognized the vulnerability in his voice. Tomorrow weighed more on him than he had admitted.

“Sure,” she smiled at him. “I can leave early today too.” Her employees had stayed late a couple nights this week. This was a good time for her to reward them. She went to her computer and typed an email to her two employees present today. She heard a squeal from Kathy. “Thanks Lizzie,” Kathy called as Lizzie heard her and Jeff preparing to leave. “Have a great weekend!” Jeff’s voice could be heard heading down the hall within a few minutes.

Lizzie logged off her laptop and disengaged it from the docking station. She would have to spend a couple of hours working on Sunday to leave early today, but she figured it was well worth it when it made William so happy.

She dropped her laptop in her bag and turned to smile at him. “Ready?”

He gave her that special half smile reserved only for her. “I've been ready a long time.”

Later that night as she nestled in his arms, she asked, “Was it just my imagination or was that the most fun move ever?”

He chuckled. “Best I've ever helped with. Although you nearly gave me a heart attack when you popped out of that box that I thought was empty.”

Lizzie laughed. “I seem to recall you paid me back.”

He had hauled her out of the box and dropped her gently on her bed before tickling her until she had tears in her eyes as she convulsed with laughter. His hands changed intent and she looked down in surprise when she felt them on her bare skin, low on her hips. “How did you manage to get half of my clothes off while tickling me?” she asked incredulously, impressed.

“I figured you might want to have one last chat in your place,” he replied absently as his fingers continued to explore.

Lizzie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. “You figured right,” she told him huskily.

Their mood had remained ebullient through every load moved. Even when Lizzie dropped a box of kitchen plates, the resulting sound of breaking porcelain telling her this was no longer a box Lydia would need, Lizzie had felt a deep joy and satisfaction permeating her mind. Just a year ago she would never have imagined how happy she would be to be moving in with William Darcy. As she got out of his car carrying the last box of her clothes, William ran up behind her and scooped her up to carry both her and the box into the house. 

When the last boxes (minus one filled with broken dishes) were safely at his condo (she knew it might take her awhile to call it “our” condo), Lizzie unpacked her clothes while William put away her books in the library. They decided to integrate the books so Lizzie’s treasured dog-eared books and paperbacks were nestled with William’s pristine quality hardbacks. Lizzie heard the doorbell ring but continued working as she heard William answer. 

A few minutes later, Lizzie finished hanging up the last of her clothes. She still had space left on her new section of the closet. It was nice not to have her clothes all jammed together. She would actually be able to see what choices she had to wear. William walked in and hugged her from behind. “I have a surprise for you,” he whispered in her ear. 

“You spoil me,” she smiled. He led her upstairs to the spare room across from Gigi’s bedroom. Lizzie had only been in this room once when she first toured William’s condo. He had been using it as a storage room for odds and ends. 

William opened the door and Lizzie preceded him in. Her mouth dropped open. The room had been cleaned out and had fresh sage green paint on the walls with the crown and base moldings painted a sparkling white. A delicate rosewood desk stood against one wall with Lizzie’s laptop placed on one side and a fresh vase of red roses on the other. A rosewood cabinet stood against another wall with a printer on top and framed photos next to it. Lizzie walked up to the cabinet and ran her hand across the polished wood surface. The largest photo was of her family. Lydia was around two years old and had been crying when Lizzie tickled her right before the timer went off. Lydia’s mouth was wide open in glee when the shutter snapped, her eyes still wet with tears. Smaller photos of Lydia, Jane and Bing, and Lizzie and Charlotte at their high school graduation were arranged in front of the Bennet family photo. 

“When did you do all this?” Lizzie managed to ask through a throat sharp with unshed tears. She noticed Jane’s smile at age six was the same twenty years later.

“I cleaned out this room and painted it when you went to visit Lydia for the weekend last month,” William said. “The furniture was my mother’s. I took it out of storage. Gigi didn’t want it, she likes a more modern style. Lydia sent me the negative for your family photo and her photo. Jane and Charlotte sent their photos.”

Lizzie opened the cabinet and found two reams of computer paper, inkjet cartridges for the printer, pads of paper and other office supplies. She slowly shut the door as William continued talking from behind her. “I thought you might like to have your own space when you wanted to work from home.”

Lizzie turned towards the window. The previous curtains had been taken down and new pleated shades framed the view of trees on the back side of the condo, barely visible in the dusk. In front of the window were two reclining armchairs, scaled smaller than the furniture downstairs. A small table with a lamp sat between them. “We can have the chairs reupholstered. My mother always said they were the most comfortable chairs in the house.” William said, starting to sound nervous. “We can change the furniture if you don’t like anything or…”

“No,” Lizzie interrupted. She turned toward him as a tear slipped down her cheek. “No, I don’t want to change anything. It’s perfect, absolutely perfect.” She ran across the room and hugged him, her face buried in his chest. “I can’t believe you did this. Thank you, William.” She felt his arms circle around her and his muscles relax.

“I love you, Lizzie.” He said his mouth against her hair.

“I love you too,” Lizzie sniffed. She kept her cheek pressed to his chest listening to the steady beat of his heart.

A few minutes later, Lizzie lifted her head. “There is just one thing I’d like to add. I’d like a photo of you to put on the desk.”

William smiled. “I thought you might say that. I have a photo of the two of us that Gigi took during her last visit here.” He opened a small drawer in the middle of the desk and pulled out a framed picture. William was behind Lizzie with his arms wrapped around her waist, her arms on top of his. They looked relaxed and happy, Lizzie thought, studying it. 

“It’s wonderful.” Lizzie said. She placed it carefully next to the roses. She took William’s hand and brought it to her lips. “So are you.”

 

“How would you like to tell everyone we’re living together?” William asked Lizzie later as they lay in bed, talking before allowing sleep to overtake them. 

“Worried my dad is going to come after you with a shotgun?” Lizzie teased. 

William smiled at the thought of Lizzie's father with any kind of gun. “He’ll probably chase down Bing first. That will give me some time to come up with a plan.”

“I think we should tell Gigi first when she comes home tomorrow night,” Lizzie lifted her head from his chest so she could meet his eyes. “Gigi and Fitz were the last to find out when we started dating. She’ll tell Fitz within about five minutes.” 

“She will appreciate that,” William chuckled. “She gave me grief for weeks for keeping her in the dark those three days before your video was posted.”

“After the weekend, I’ll call my family and Charlotte. I doubt anyone will be too surprised.” Lizzie admitted. They’d all seen this coming, including her.

William kissed her forehead. “Welcome home, Lizzie.” Lizzie pressed her lips to his chest and smiled, allowing her eyes to close as fatigue caught up to her. This had turned out to be one of the best days of her life.


End file.
